Russia has highest level of financial inequality

MOSCOW >> A report by a major investment bank says 35 percent of household wealth in Russia is owned by just 110 people, the highest level of inequality in the world barring small Caribbean nations.

Credit Suisse said in a report published Wednesday that worldwide, billionaires account for just 1-2 percent of total wealth. The investment bank said that Russia has one billionaire for every $11 billion in wealth while in the rest of the world there is only one for $170 billion.

The fall of Communism saw Russia’s most prized assets sold off to a small circle of businessmen later known as oligarchs. President Vladimir Putin allowed them to keep their wealth in exchange for their political loyalty.